


The Teacher

by hafren



Series: New Made [3]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-27
Updated: 2009-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-03 20:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hafren/pseuds/hafren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Third in the AU series "New Made". While Deeta is away dealing with the fall-out from Gauda Prime, Vinni learns a new skill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> "Ooooh, ooooh, who's been teachin' you?  
> Show me the man and let me shake his hand."
> 
> (Sedaka/Greenfield, "You Never Done It Like That")

The rumours crowded in on each other's heels, each contradicting the last. Blake was dead. He had been killed in a battle with Federation forces. He had died instantly; he had fought for hours. The rebels had been routed; they had regrouped and defeated the forces of law. He had been alone; he had been with his crew, who contrary to government propaganda had never left him. Deeta knew that one was false anyway, but was not in a position to say so.

Then the new set of rumours: Blake had been killed not by the Federation but by his own former crewmates, who had also died in a hail of Federation bullets, or escaped, depending on who told the story. Blake himself had been working for the Federation, having returned to his former allegiance. Or they had. Or nobody had; the Federation agents had just turned up by chance, and if you believed that.....

Deeta didn't know what to believe. He had heard nothing from the Scorpio's crew, and for their sake had been careful never to have a way of contacting them. He and Vinni were living on a neutral planet, and he didn't call himself Tarrant. But totalitarian regimes do not hang on to power by having no interest in other people's affairs. He had no doubt that the Federation knew where and who he was.

He pressed his hands to his temples, and Vinni's face creased in worry. "Does your head hurt again? Shall I get some ice?"

He shook his head, gingerly. "It's all right, love."

Vinni stroked and kissed his hand. "It can't all be true, so maybe none of it is."

"Maybe." He was pretty sure some of it was. He made the effort to look up and smile reassuringly. Vinni looked wretched. Deeta reached out and stroked his cheek. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be making you unhappy."

"If you're unhappy, I want to be too. I want to feel whatever you do." Vinni spoke vehemently, and Deeta was both touched and troubled. He had not, for a long time, thought of Vinni as any sort of machine, but he knew that a little over a year back, Vinni would not have been able to empathise like that.

"I woke all that up in you. If you can grieve, it's because I taught you how" he said regretfully.

"But if I couldn't be sad for you, I couldn't love you either. Could I? And I'd rather be able to do that, even if it does hurt sometimes." Vinni hugged him and went out to the kitchen, and a moment later Deeta heard him getting ice from the fridge. That wouldn't have happened a year ago either, Deeta thought; if I said I was all right, he'd have taken my word for it, not read my body language instead.

The young man brought the ice back in a cloth and laid it on Deeta's forehead. It seemed not quite right to Deeta, having Vinni look after him instead of the other way around, but it was soothing and he lay back in his chair and let it happen, while Vinni checked messages on the computer, saying hopefully "Maybe there'll be one from Del".

"I doubt it, love. Whatever I call myself, there'll be people who know I'm his brother. If he is on the run, they'll be bugging our mail in case he does get in touch. He's bright enough to know that; it's probably why we haven't heard from him."

"Unless he's dead, of course." Vinni might be empathising more, but any social skills he had were what Deeta had taught him in the past year or so, and things like that still happened. The difference was that these days he mostly realised what he'd done. He ran over, knelt beside Deeta and buried his dark head on his knee. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"I know." Deeta stroked the soft hair. "It's all right. Go back and check. You never know."

Vinni checked his own and Deeta's mail, reading it out so Deeta could rest his head. Vinni's reading was near-perfect now, Deeta realised with some pride. To be honest, there was no real reason any longer for him not to go out to work, as he'd been asking to do. The thought sent another stab of pain through Deeta's head.

"There's one from Max here."

Deeta sat up, clutching at the slipping ice. He'd let Max know where he was, when he and Vinni first found their bolt-hole, and had a couple of mails from him, but hadn't kept it up. If the truth were told, there had been a wistful note about Max's mail that made him think it might be kinder not to keep in touch.

"This is really odd. Listen." Vinni read out the message.

 

My dear friend,

Not much has happened since I wrote last week, except that the office is sending me to a conference on Vandor in a month's time. It occurred to me that this might be the perfect chance to see you again, since the difficulties that prevent you from coming to Teal do not apply there, and you could reach Vandor in that time.

Vinni paused. "He didn't mail us last week, did he?"

"No. Go on."

 

I could bring you up to date with all that has been happening to your friends - Darvid's marriage, Aranxa's long-overdue promotion and many other things.

Vinni looked round. "Who are they?"

"Never heard of them. No, hang on. Aranxa was a woman who worked in Max's office. He told me once she was useless at her job. What the hell is he on about?"

"There's a bit more."

 

That is all, I think. Let me know if you can come. I would very much like to see you. Oh, I almost forgot. You will be glad to know that the illness of our mutual friend Nauplius, which you may have heard was critical, has in fact been much exaggerated. He has been in touch with me lately and asks to be remembered to you. I must close now, but when we meet we can talk at leisure.

"That's all a bit strange, isn't- Are you all right?" Vinni's voice was troubled. Deeta had gone very pale.

"That last name?"

Vinni looked back. "Nauplius. Did I say it wrong?"

"No. Find out what it means."

Vinni did a search. "It's some old first-calendar language. It means a navigator."

Deeta was trembling all over. "Del is alive. He's alive and he's been in touch with Max. I'll have to go to Vandor."

"Are you sure?"

"Max is in the diplomatic. It's just the way he would put it. Del's alive. Maybe he's on Vandor or maybe Max knows where he is. I'll have to go."

"All right. I'll do the packing. You just tell me what to put in for you. I can sort my stuff."

"No." Deeta spoke gently. "I have to go on my own."

Vinni looked stricken. Deeta cast about for a way of not worrying him and then decided he deserved the truth. "I don't know for certain this is safe. Even if it's genuine, which I think it is, other people might have monitored it and figured out what it means. Or they might follow where I go in case I lead them to him."

"Maybe you shouldn't go, then," Vinni said unsteadily.

"Maybe not, but I must. If he wants to risk it, I can't not go."

"And what if I want to risk it? With you? Don't I have a right? I'm not a child." His grey eyes were blazing; Deeta caught his arms and held him still.

"Love. Listen. I'm going to have to be so careful for his sake, watch my back all the time. I can't watch yours too."

"But I can help. If anyone's after you, I can shoot them. You know how fast I am."

"I do, indeed. You'd be liable to shoot the first man coming out of the shadows, and it could easily be Del or Max......... Besides, it isn't just that. This probably is the real thing, but just in case it isn't, I want someone to be here. Del wouldn't look for shelter here unless he were desperate, but if he did, and nobody was here, I couldn't live with it. Please, my dear. Look after things here for me. Who else could I trust?"

******

But when the time came to board, Deeta looked at the spacecraft, thinking of Del somewhere in hiding, needing him, and then back at the young, trusting face smiling up at him, and felt his heart squeezed in a fist. I can't leave him; he isn't safe alone. But I must.

"I'll be fine," Vinni said, for all the world as if he could guess Deeta's thoughts from his face. _(Can that be? Has he come on that much?)_ "I can look after everything, specially now I'm working. Thanks so much for letting me." A great grin spread over his face at the mere thought.

"It won't be such a novelty, after a week of getting up in the morning. Now look, remember what I told you. It's all right to have friends at work, but for your sake, and mine and Del's, be very careful what you say to them. Understand?"

"'Course. You've told me all this before, and I was listening, honest. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I hope you find him."

"'Bye, love. I'll miss you. Love you." Deeta took the steps two at a time, waving at the top. Vinni waved back, bright and smiling. Then Deeta vanished into the craft and the door closed.

Vinni watched it take off and then wandered back through the concourse. He stopped by one of the ornamental fountains and trailed his hand in it, staring into the falling water. A man's voice behind him asked "Are you all right?"

He turned. The man was taller than him, fairish, good-looking. He looked friendly, concerned, but there was something else too, a gleam in his eyes, a kind of lighting of the face. Vinni thought it was a bit like the way Deeta had looked at him when they first knew each other. The man spoke again and Vinni dragged his mind back to listen.

"You look as if you've got nowhere to go."

"I should go home. But I don't want to, because my - because there's nobody there."

"Well, stay here with me for a while and have some coffee then. Just said goodbye to someone?"

Vinni nodded. The voice was gently amused, but likeable and persuasive. He asked questions in a way that made you want to answer - or confirm the answers, for Vinni had the odd feeling he knew them already.

******

At the spaceport on Vandor, Max was waiting. He hurried over and embraced Deeta with unexpected fervour, murmuring in his ear, "Make it look good. You will have been followed; with any luck we can persuade them you came for a romantic assignation with me."

"Long way to come for a bit on the side", Deeta objected, wondering how much of this scenario Max had set up for his own ends. But when Max replied quietly "People have gone further for love", he looked so desolate that Deeta felt guilty. They were ushered into diplomatic transport and taken to Teal's embassy in the Vandorian capital. The Vandor-Teal negotiations were no invention, and since both parties were protesting their amity and honest intentions, the embassy would naturally be bugged. There were clerks in and out all the time, too. Deeta was frantic to ask Max his news, but had to content himself with pleasantries for ten agonising minutes.

A young clerk came in and addressed Max.

"Sir, the agents have been located. One across the road, watching the window, one a little farther down the street."

"Good. Tell the Vandorian Foreign Office there are Federation agents spying on the conference for the purpose of destabilizing it. Give them the exact location."

Shortly afterwards there was a noise outside. Max crossed to the window and watched intently for some minutes.

"Both picked up. That's all right, then. I think I fancy some air. He turned to Deeta. "Care to come for a walk? I've been here before; I can show you around?"

His manner was so exaggerated-casual that Deeta glanced around, sure the clerks would suspect something. Then he realised they were meant to. Max's demeanour was semaphoring "let's go somewhere I can get my hands all over you" and the clerks were looking amused. One asked "Should some of us come with you, for security?" and Max said hastily "No."

Deeta followed him out, furiously embarrassed. Once in the courtyard he snapped "Are you enjoying this or what?"

"I'm doing my job. Which I am good at." Max spoke without looking at him. "People who think they have found one secret don't go looking for another. Now keep your eyes open, there may have been more than two."

Deeta thought bemusedly of the fussy, anxious-to-please man he had known on Teal. But then the death-watch hadn't been Max's regular line of work.

He walked quickly, Deeta only just keeping up with him. Before long they were in what certainly was not the posher part of town. In fact the further they went, the tattier it got. Deeta eyed the street merchants, urchins and occasional beggars uneasily and muttered "We stand out like hell here."

"So will anyone following us." The district was not just tatty but sleazy. There wer sex shops, cheap hotels, young people loitering on corners who looked as if they might be for sale. Deeta glanced sideways at Max, who clearly knew his way around these streets. He wondered if the refined, fastidious diplomat really preferred the kind of relaxation to be found in such a place. Or was it just that he had no choice?

They stopped outside a dingy building which proclaimed itself to be a hotel. If it was, Deeta thought, it was the kind you book into for half an hour at a time, under a false name. He couldn't decide whether fear or embarrassment was uppermost in his mind as he followed Max in.

******

"You haven't told me your name", observed Vinni.

"Haven't I? You can call me Henson. Your move."

The fair-haired man leaned back on his bench. They were playing outdoor chess in the park, on a little stone table. Vinni puzzled over his move, and Henson smiled at the little frown that creased his forehead.

"I can't remember how this moves." Vinni picked up a knight.

"Here, I'll show you." He came around and leaned over Vinni, who tensed and reached for a gun that wasn't there before remembering he mustn't. "Easy, now." The man took his hand and guided it in the knight's move.

"There." He breathed softly on the back of Vinni's neck, making no move to let go the hand he held.

"It can't be much fun for you, playing me", Vinni said wistfully. "I'm hopeless at it. Deeta could give you a better game, if he was here." His face brightened suddenly. "He's got a chess computer at home; you could play that?"

"Mmm". To tell the truth, I've never found those things much of a challenge." He felt the slight slump in Vinni's shoulders and smiled charmingly. "But I'd love to see your house."

******

In the ill-lit hotel lobby, a little man with oily hair nodded to Max and gestured up the stairs. They went up three flights while Deeta, incxreasingly uneasy, wondered what their alternative escape route was. At the top, Max knocked on a door and said "Freelance". There was the sound of a bolt being drawn, and when the door opened Del was there.

Although it was no more than he had expected, Deeta went to pieces, hugging him close and crying without embarrassment, backing off a little when he realised Del's ribs were injured but unable to let him go. It was a while before he could take in anything else. The room was bare, with two iron cots and little other furniture. A door off: probably a washroom, escape, maybe. There was one small window; Max was watching out of it and talking to a grey-haired man at the same time. Deeta registered it all in the brief moment he could bear to take his eyes off Del.

He looked older, his face more drawn, and unkempt. Deeta smoothed his hair back. "How are you? How long have you been on the run? What happened? Are the others alive?"

"What do you want answered first? Yes, the others are alive."

"Is it true Blake's dead?" There was a half-smothered noise from across the room; glancing over, Deeta saw the man with his hand over his mouth, as if he might be sick. Del looked over too, concern in his eyes.

"There's a window in the washroom, Max; watch from there while I talk to Deeta." Max guided the man to the door Deeta had noticed. As they passed, Del reached out and touched the grey-haired man's arm and he looked up for an instant.

It was Avon. Deeta stood rooted, unable to hide his shock. He would never have known him, and not just because of the hair. His face was thinner, the bones standing out and the dark eyes huge against a pallor that spoke of not having been outside in weeks. But Del hadn't either, and he still looked like himself. Del's eyes were tired, but he looked as if he slept at night.

 

Deeta said nothing, and Max ushered Avon into the washroom and closed the door. Deeta turned back to Del.

"What the hell happened?"

Del sat down on one of the beds. "Blake died. Avon killed him." Deeta looked baffled.

"It's complicated. Avon thought Blake had betrayed us, not unreasonably as it happens, but he was wrong. I was wrong. It was my fault, as much as anyone's; I thought so too and he believed me."

"So the Federation didn't have anything to do with it?"

"Oh, they were there. There was a battle. But Blake had a big force, and they beat the Feds off in the end. They're still there, as far as I know. Vila and the others stayed with them."

"But not you?"

"You're joking. It was all we could do to get them not to kill Avon. He's on the run from both sides now, and I'm not leaving him. It was my fault as much as his." He spoke softly, careful not to be audible next door.

"Is that the only reason you're staying with him?"

"No, I care about him." Del glanced up. "No, not like that."

Deeta smiled. "I didn't think you could have changed that much!"

"Oh, but I have, though." Del sighed. "I can't believe the kind of bigot I used to be. I mean, if I'd known you were that way inclined I'd never have said the things I did, but I shouldn't have anyway. When I saw you with Vinni, and how happy he made you, I could see that. How is he, by the way?"

"He's fine. We're fine."

"Are you making love to him yet?" Deeta didn't answer.

"You should." Del spoke with surprising force. "Do you know what I think? People don't need to make such a big deal out of it. When you come down to it, it's just a bit of common comfort, like giving someone a kind word or putting a bandage on a wound."

Deeta glanced toward the washroom door. "He looked awful," he said quietly.

"Oh Deeta, he can't sleep. Or if he does, he dreams and wakes up screaming. I don't feel that way about him, any more than he does about me. But I care about him, same as I do about you, or you do about Vinni. And if that was what he wanted to keep the dark away, I swear I'd do it without thinking twice. Just for comfort. We all need that."

The washroom door opened again. Max crossed to the window. "Sorry, Del. Avon thought he saw someone watching the house, but I couldn't."

Deeta leaned over and looked out. "Nor can I... oh, hang on. There wasn't anyone in that doorway when we came."

There were doorways all down the narrow street, with young men and women leaning in them, looking for trade. The one Deeta pointed out was a young man, cheaply dressed and like the others, but every so often his eyes wandered from the passing punters to the window.

"Oh," Max's voice hardened, "they knew enough to send someone looking like that, did they? Del, show yourself at the window. I want him to come in."

"And then we kill him?"

"No, no, no, what an idea." Max sounded genuinely shocked. "No need for that. The proprietor does a little trading on the side. There are some... employees you haven't met, but he will, as soon as he comes in. He'll wake up somewhere not unlike this, as merchandise. Meanwhile, we'd better be going. There's a back fire escape."

Deeta hugged Del again. "Good luck." He had meant to say the same to Avon, but it seemed the emptiest thing you could say to that wintry face. Instead he said, to his own surprise, "Look after my little brother", and saw Avon's blank eyes kindle slightly, as if at a new idea. Then he followed Max down the fire escape, ignoring the muffled sounds of someone being rather roughly anaesthetised in the lobby.

******  
Waiting for his flight, Deeta was quiet, his mind still preoccupied. Max, who seemed to have reverted to type now they were off his very particular ground, said anxiously "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in the office. I couldn't think of any other cover, honestly."

Deeta dragged himself back to reality. "Max, I owe you more for this than I can ever repay. I'll never forget it."

"It's quite all right. No trouble." Deeta felt a stab of pity. Just for comfort. We all need that. He embraced Max fiercely. "Max, I'm sorry I don't feel for you the way you do for me. I really am."

"It doesn't matter. Have a good journey. I need to get back to the office now, and earn my salary." Deeta watched him diminish down the long corridor, not looking back.

******

 

For the first part of the journey, he couldn't get his mind off Del and Avon in that bleak room, and Max walking away down the corridor. But the closer he came to home, the more Vinni's image grew in his mind, and when he saw him on the concourse, eyes sparkling with happiness, he ran to him, lifted him off his feet and spun him around. "Oh love, it's so good to see you again."

"You too." Vinni kissed him, and for a moment he thought he hadn't got his land balance back after the flight. The concourse was spinning; Vinni's lips were biting softly at his, Vinni's tongue stroking and exploring, and amidst the odd feeling that he was floating on bubbles, one coherent thought shaped itself: I never taught him that....

"What have you been doing, reading sex manuals?" he asked teasingly, when he got his breath back.

"No. This man showed me how, Henson. He's my friend, but he had to go away again a few days ago. It's a pity; I wanted you to meet him. He taught me lots about chess, too."

Vinni chattered on, while Deeta went cold inside and clung to the hope that this Henson was nothing more threatening than a Federation agent. I have always said that if he met someone he loved, I would let him go. What the hell was I talking about?

Back home, Vinni hovered about him offering food and looking worried. "What's the matter? You're ever so quiet."  
Deeta forced a smile, none of this was Vinni's fault. "It's all right. I'm a bit tired. This Henson... you didn't tell him my name was Tarrant, did you?"

"No. Only Deeta. Are you cross with me? He was nice, honestly. Oh, and he left a letter for you." He rummaged on a table, handed Deeta a piece of paper and stood apprehensively in front of him, waiting while he read.

 

My dear Deeta Tarrant,

First, a word of reassurance. I was fascinated to learn all about you, your partner and your adventurous brother, but nobody will be any the wiser about them for me. Apart from anything else, I have no wish to draw the attention of Federation agents to this planet: a few years ago I too found it expedient to place some distance between them and myself.

Don't blame your little friend. I know you told him to be careful about talking to strange men, but I have got under the guard of far less naïve people than him; it is by way of being my job. Besides, his instincts are fundamentally sound. He knew I would not do anything to harm him, and I haven't.

In fact, I am writing this in the hope of doing him, and you, some good. I gather, from various things he has no idea he told me, that your feelings of quasi-parental responsibility towards him are standing in the way of your relationship. I can understand that. I can even feel a certain awe at your self-control. But it must be clear to you by now that he is, no doubt thanks to you, as independent and capable of choice as need be.

What you may not know is that he blames himself for your reticence; he thinks you can't love him fully because he is not fully human - "not real", as he rather endearingly phrases it. I freely admit that I have spent a most enjoyable week or so showing him how real he is, and how what one can do with one's right hand matters far more than what it is made of.

But I have robbed you of nothing. You will find he has a few more skills than when you went away, but his heart is firmly in your keeping, which is why I cut short my own teaching career just when it was getting really interesting. As I said, I would not do anything to harm him. Altruism is not a habit of mine, and I trust this unexpected lapse will not have been for nothing.

Like you, I have not used my real name for years, so my signature means little. The accompanying form of words, however, is rather more genuine than usual.  
With best wishes for your future happiness,

Henson

 

"What a brass nerve," Deeta murmured, but he was smiling. He looked up, into Vinni's apprehensive eyes, and held out his arms. "Come here and show me what else you've been learning."  
\------------


End file.
